On the 12 year anniversary of the war in Afghanistan, 12 veterans and several supporters were arrested for staying in the NYC Vietnam Veterans Memorial Plaza after the 10pm closing time because they were still reading off the names of fallen soldiers and victims of war:

Photos from Hurricane Sandy aftermath in Staten Island yesterday. Almost three months have passed since the hurricane, yet many people are will not getting the help they need, and some are still without heat, running water, and/or electricity.

Today, Occupy Faith and members of the community gathered outside of Mayor Bloomberg’s residence to speak out about the lack of resources being used to address the housing issue after hurricane Sandy and the misinformation about the dangers of mold. Info from the press release:

Without the housing alternatives that the mayor ought to have provided by now many victims have had no choice but to stay in their devastated and mold-infested homes. As a result many are getting terribly sick from these conditions. The lack of housing coupled with the misinformation of the dangers of living with mold are putting these vulnerable communities at greater risk than necessary.

Today I went to the Rockaways in NYC for the second time since hurricane Sandy hit the East Coast. The last time I went out there, I was with my friends from Occupy Astoria, and was helping them deliver a bunch of supplies out there. This time around I was able to spend more time capturing the widespread destruction, and the volunteer services set up in the area. I realized that the Rockaways is the hardest hit area I’ve been to so far – from the major flood damage to much of the peninsula, to the homes that burned down in Breezy Point (which I posted about a few days ago), to the outright destruction of many of the homes on the coastline. Check out my photos from today, and click here to find out how you can help with the Hurricane Sandy relief efforts.

I finally made it out to Breezy Point on Tuesday, which was 15 days after hurricane Sandy hit the East Coast. Although I had seen many photos of the area where over 100 homes burned down from downed power lines and gas leaks, I was unable to grasp the massive devastation until I was standing amidst the ashes and charred metal, and breathing in the air that smelled strongly of burned materials. One can only describe the scene as post-apocalyptic, with blocks of homes now in shambles, and only a few chimneys still standing amongst the rubble:

As I was taking photos of the homes that burned down in Breezy Point, a lady approached me and we started chatting. She ended up telling me that if I walked just down the beach from that area, I would come across multiple homes that were also destroyed during the hurricane. She said that the media has been so focused on the homes that burned down, that many people don’t realize how much destruction there also was in the rest of Breezy Point. I decided to head down that way, and was amazed at what I saw.
Other than the homes that had burned down, this was the most devastation I have seen yet. Many homes had completely collapsed. Others were pushed off of their foundations and shoved up against other homes. I have seen some of this in other areas, but not on as large of a scale as this: